The Final Four gave the Houston Chronicle a chance to celebrate the city's college basketball history.
With the NCAA men's basketball tournament semifinals and finals played in Reliant Stadium in early April, the Chronicle revisited the University of Houston's Phi Slama Jama glory days in a special section that was the highlight of a season of enhanced basketball coverage.
The section examined coach Guy V. Lewis' career and his absence from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
In addition, it showed how Phi Slama Jama — headlined by Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon — contributed to the evolution of the dunk; caught up with the man who coined the name, former Houston Post sports writer Thomas Bonk; explored where the players ended up and displayed nostalgic photos of some of the former Cougars players reuniting with their coach.
The section was one of six special sections produced by the Chronicle in March and April in addition to wraps and extra pages devoted to the NCAA men's tournament.
The enterprise stories included Joseph Duarte's tale of Brackettville, Texas, and Dale Robertson's assessment of Houston's best sports events.
The coverage was anchored by staff writer Jeffrey Martin, who spent the season telling the nation's top college basketball stories on a weekly "Road to Reliant" page.
Sports Management Program
The APSE Sports Management Program has passed through Phase 1 with eight participating editors and eight mentoring sports editors.
The program, rekindled from a 2004 APSE initiative, includes feedback and planning opportunities for small-paper editors matched up with sports editors in their regions.
In the Mid-Atlantic, Chris Imperiale of the Scranton (Pa.) Times is paired with Josh Barnett of the Philadelphia Daily News; in the Atlantic Coast, Roanoke Times night sports editor Carrie Cousins is paired with Colleen McDaniel and Tom White of the Newport News Virginian-Pilot; in the Southeast, John Bednarowski of the Marietta Journal is paired with Tim Stephens of the Orlando Sentinel; and Brent Holloway of The Times in Gainesville, Ga., is paired with Randy Kennedy of the Mobile Press Register; in the Great Lakes, editor John Boyle of the Hamilton (Ohio) JournalNews is paired with James Lefko of the Indianapolis Star; in the Great Plains, Ariy-El Boynton of the Madison (S.D.) Daily Leader is paired with Mke Sherman of The Oklahoman; and John Bohnenkamp of The Hawk Eye in Burlington, Iowa, is paired with Chris Fickett, deputy sports editor of the Kansas City Star; and in the Far West, Reno Gazette-Journal copy desk chief Johanna Huybers is paired with Mike James of the Los Angeles Times.
The program includes a critique and planning opportunities for spring big events, keeping coverage local in summer lulls and preparation for the high school football or fall preview sections.
GREAT LAKES
Oakland (Mich.) Press
The sports section won five awards in the 2010 Suburban Newspapers of America contest, including second place for best sports section in all circulation categories and first place for best special section for a preseason section on the Detroit Tigers. Three staff members won individual awards with Matthew Mowery winning first place in non-Page One layout, Pat Caputo taking second in column writing and Paul Kampe taking third in non-Page One layout.
